Complex systems, deployed in geographically dispersed locations, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT) and other industrial and medical systems, are expensive to maintain. The diagnosis of component and subsystem failures by a technician, or by manual analysis of error reports; is both costly and time consuming. Often the great complexity of such systems means that the error reports describe error states but do not permit a direct conclusion about the defective component. That is, in some way the system has failed to perform properly, yet the error reported does not correspond to a uniquely identified component to be replaced, repaired, calibrated, or the like, so as to restore the system to a valid operational state.
Resolving reported errors often requires dispatching a technician to the site so as to perform special testing routines so as to attempt to solve the problem. However, such test routines are time consuming; they may diagnose a failure for which a spare part is not available at the equipment site, and may therefore require further time to acquire the spare part and a subsequent additional technician visit to perform the repair. In other instances, an on-site test routine may not be feasible for a particular failure type, such as in a closed-loop portion of the system, where additional test fixtures may be needed. These are normally only available during the development phase of the project.
The great complexity of, for example, MRI systems, means that the error reports or error states do not permit a direct conclusion about the defective component causing the failure. This typically leads to high consumption of spare parts where such parts are replaced without the curing of the defect, longer searches for errors, and a high proportion of returned goods that are not defective.
When an error is reported by a user, a support engineer at a central, regional, or local service center may attempt to find a suitable preliminary explanation, on the basis of the error reports, so as to dispatch the appropriate spare part and service technician. However, due to the above-described problems, this preliminary diagnosis often cannot unambiguously identify a defective part.